


What’s A Whumpee Gotta Do To Get Some Sleep Around Here?

by paintedbluerose



Series: Whumptober [23]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Gen, Suki & Zuko (Avatar) Friendship, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph says take a nap, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, Zuko (Avatar) whump, Zuko is exhausted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27163634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedbluerose/pseuds/paintedbluerose
Summary: Zuko is exhausted and just wants to sleep. Suki prefers the Firelord not to fall asleep in the middle of the hallway. Toph refuses to leave until Zuko naps.Day 23 of Whumptober theme: What’s a whumpee gotta do to get some sleep around here?Prompts: exhaustion, narcolepsy, sleep deprivation
Relationships: Suki & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Whumptober [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950010
Comments: 6
Kudos: 130





	What’s A Whumpee Gotta Do To Get Some Sleep Around Here?

**Author's Note:**

> Wasn’t sure about this then decided Zuko gonna have sleep deprivation because being a Firelord at 16 gotta have its own problems. And PTSD he’s gotta have doesn’t help. Add Suki because why not and Toph because Toph and Zuko are siblings and she cares!

Zuko could not keep his eyes open. There was a meeting, of some sort, going on and he had no clue what was being discussed. Was it important? Probably. Could he focus? Not a chance. He was just so tired.

The problem started once he became Firelord. Sure, sounds fun, becoming a leader of a country. Until he has to deal with ending a war and peace talks with other nations who hate his nation (which was fair after the past 100 years). And a council who hates the war ending and would much rather prefer his father back in charge (and had no problem stating it over and over). All while he is sixteen. Sixteen!

Who decided it would be a great idea for a sixteen year old to be in charge of a country?!

Add in some nightmares every night because what kid doesn’t have issues after their father and sister tried to kill him? And repeatedly mentioned they hate him and he’s worthless. So he kept seeing his father burning his face, his father and sister throwing lightning at him (and Katara who sometimes he couldn’t get to her fast enough) which did not help him sleep.

If that wasn’t bad enough, there were assassination attempts almost every night. People hated him just for being him, just for his title. He had been used to the hate and some attempts on his life (how many times had Ozai tried to kill him?) but not this many. Not this frequent.

All that stress and interruptions added to very little sleep-if any-every night for the past few months. He was exhausted. Irritable. Annoyed. He couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t focus. He became moodier and angrier than he was back when he was hunting Aang. He tried his best to control himself but sometimes, he slipped.

He had no idea what the stupid meeting was about or that he ended it. There were people, then he blinked and they were gone.

He didn’t register he was walking anywhere. He remembered sitting down one moment. Next, he was in a hallway with Suki next to him. He was going to ask her what happened when he crashed and fell down. Maybe he needed a nap...

~~~~

Suki knew Zuko was tired. She could tell by his attitude and the dark circles around his eyes. He didn’t seem to focus on anything going on. He seemed to space out more often. It wasn’t a surprise to see Zuko fall on his face after his meeting.

After checking to make he was asleep and not injured or poisoned (she could hear his soft snore), she carried him back to his room. She placed him in his bed and removed some of his robes and let his hair down.

As she resolved to lay next to him to protect him, Toph came storming in the room. “Toph, he’s sleeping right now. Not so loud.” Suki said before Toph could say anything.

“Don’t worry Fans. I’m not going to wake Sparky.” She climbed up next to Zuko and rested her head on his chest. “He needs all the rest he can get.”

“Do you think he’ll actually sleep?”

“Knowing Sparky? He’ll probably wake up in a few minutes, worried he should be working.”

“Hmm. Think you can convince him to sleep?”

Toph smiled. “He’s not leaving any time soon.”

True to what Toph predicted, Zuko woke up not even half hour later. “What’s going on? I gotta go!” He tried to sit up but Toph made it impossible. “Toph, please, I need to go to work.”

“No. I’m not moving Sparky. You’re staying there and sleeping.”

“But...”

“Toph is right Zuko. You haven’t been sleeping. You need rest. You’ll be fine.”

“I’m not moving until you nap. Face it Sparky, you’re napping with us.”

“Fine...” He grumbled.

It didn’t take much for Zuko to fall back asleep now that Suki and Toph were snuggled with him. Suki felt better knowing Zuko was resting. As she drifted off, she wondered if there was a way Toph could snuggle with Zuko so he could sleep.


End file.
